Exodus 20:22-26: a reflection

22The LORD said to Moses, “This is what you shall tell the children of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 23You shall most certainly not make gods of silver or gods of gold for yourselves to be alongside me. 24You shall make an altar of earth for me, and shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I record my name I will come to you and I will bless you. 25If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of cut stones; for if you lift up your tool on it, you have polluted it. 26You shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed to it.’

Right after the Ten Commandments, God gives instructions for the altar, and they are strikingly plain. The altar is to be of earth, or of uncut stones, no elaborate carving, no ostentation, and no steps up to it. But in the middle of these simple instructions comes a warm promise: In every place where I cause my name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. Where his name is honored, God promises to come and bless.

Notice two things. First, the simplicity. God does not require an ornate, impressive altar; a mound of earth or uncut stones will do. What matters is not the grandeur of the place but the sincerity of the worship. God is not impressed by human ostentation; he meets his people in the plain and unadorned. And second, the promise: where his name is honored, he comes and blesses. God is not distant, waiting to be reached by elaborate effort; he promises to come to his people wherever his name is genuinely remembered and honored, and to bless them there.

That is a warm and freeing truth about meeting with God. You do not need an impressive setting, grand words, or elaborate religious machinery to meet him. Where his name is honored, in the plainest place, the simplest prayer, the most ordinary corner, he promises to come and bless. God meets his people not in grandeur but in sincere worship, wherever it is offered. Wherever you honor his name, in the simplest and plainest of settings, he promises to come to you and bless you. Honor his name, and he will meet you there.

Lord, you promised to come and bless your people wherever your name is honored, and you asked not for a grand altar but a plain one, for sincere worship rather than ostentation. Thank you that I do not need an impressive setting or elaborate words to meet you. Wherever I honor your name, in the simplest place and prayer, you promise to come and bless me. Meet me there, in sincere worship, and let me honor your name wherever I am.